Yes, Windows 7 has attractive graphics and display options with the new Aero interface, but maybe you don’t need it? Maybe you’re already used to the classic Windows design that has been around since Windows 95?
If so, then there is an answer! Fortunately, Microsoft is not crazy enough to completely cut out the old interface in Windows 7. However, by the way, Windows 8/10 has a radically different look and it is not so easy to get the classic look there, but that’s another story.
Windows 7 classic theme
In Windows 7, you can easily revert to the classic Windows look. To do this, go to your desktop, right-click and select Personalize.
Then you will get a dialog box with a list of Aero themes. Here you can go back to the classic look.
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Scroll down the list until you see the Basic and High Contrast themes. There should be one called Windows Classic.
Your desktop will now change from the fancy new Windows 7 to the classic Windows 2000 / XP as shown below:
And, of course, the Start button and Start menu will look like they did in 2000 / XP:
Unfortunately, reverting to Classic does not return the Show Desktop icon to its original location in XP. Instead, it is still far from the right side of the taskbar. However, you can read some of my previous posts, including how to restore the Show Desktop icon in Windows 7
This is the fastest and easiest way to make Windows 7 look like Windows 2000. There are other programs that can make it look even more realistic by changing the boot image, the login screen, and other things, but for this you need to install software that will change lots of files on your system. Enjoy!
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